A WOMAN who who gave her multi-million pound Kensington townhouse a bright candy-stripe paint job today insisted she will refuse a council order to redecorate the building.

Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring, 71, hit out at her "hysterical" neighbours for complaining to the authorities about the red and white stripes, after they branded it "garish" and "tacky" last month.

She was accused of painting her £15million home to "get her own back" following a planning dispute over the property and her application to demolish it was refused.

Residents in the quiet residential cul-de-sac in Kensington, west London, were angered by the striking redesign and complained to the council, which ordered the stripes' removal.

But Ms Lisle-Mainwaring, who lives in Switzerland, has insisted she will not heed the order, which she plans to appeal in the courts.

She told the Evening Standard: "It is my house. I am entitled to do what I wish with it, and there are a lot of people who agree with me.

It is my house. I am entitled to do what I wish with it, and there are a lot of people who agree with me

Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring

"They (the stripes) add to the gaiety of the nation. Children absolutely love it - they are fun.

"I did not think they (my neighbours) would get quite so excited. I did not realise they would get hysterical."

She also denied claims the stripes had been painted to spite her neighbours, instead saying she did it because she was entitled to.

The council has slapped Ms Lisle-Mainwaring with a section 215 notice under the Town and Country Act, which provides local planning authorities with the power to order owners to clean up land or buildings when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area.

However the decision can be appealed in the courts.

Saskia Moyle, 18, who lives across the road with her father, said she was shocked to come home one night to discover men up ladders painting the house.

Speaking last month, she said: "It's very fluorescent and very garish. Without sounding very pretentious it isn't very Kensington. It's more Camden or something like that."

Asked if she liked the new design or thought the house was a tacky monstrosity, she laughed and added: "I think tacky monstrosity, we all hate it."